Medicare recipients paying $10 a month more in part because HHS overestimated cost of covering Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra: Medicare Part B premiums will be lowered — but not until next year. (Andrew Harnik / AP)

Medicare recipients would have been paying less this year than they are for Part B premiums if not for an overestimate in the price of covering an expensive new Alzheimer’s drug, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says.

Becerra said this year’s Medicare Part B premium reflects an overestimate by the government in the cost of covering Aduhelm, a drug that was approved despite weak evidence it can slow the progression of the disease.